Harmony Day
by tAme noar syth
Summary: At the same time a temporary truce is called among the warring Wraith factions, the Travellers come to Atlantis with a daring proposal. A fictional episode.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate Atlantis or any of its characters. This is purely a fan fiction and is not an attempt to steal the intellectual property of MGM.

A/N: This is a fictional episode that takes place during season five. The idea for the story came to my mind and I decided to write out the first part of it, thus creating chapter one. It's my first fic, so comments and constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated. This episode is not intended to replace any episode from season five in any way. It is entitled "Harmony Day".

"**Harmony Day"**

"So what are these intriguing items called on your planet?" Teyla asked John, as they traipsed together down a corridor in Atlantis, passing other base personnel in the opposite direction.

"We call 'em pacifiers," Sheppard explained, with a casual wave of his hand. "And they're for babies as a substitute for…" he trailed off, looking awkward.

Teyla raised her eyebrows at him uncomprehendingly.

Sheppard gestured at his chest with his hands, miming grabbing something there he didn't have.

"Ah…" Teyla suddenly understood. "I see…"

"Yeah," Sheppard said, embarrassed. "But they're really useful and babies from our planet love 'em. I'm sure Torren would too."

Teyla smiled at John as they both entered the gate control room.

"Colonel Sheppard," Chuck, the technician, called out from his station at a control panel. He looked up from a display screen in concern. "A ship just dropped out of hyperspace above the planet."

"Cloak the city," Sheppard ordered and Chuck complied.

As the sound of the city's cloak deploying rippled around them, Sheppard activated his radio headset and spoke. "Woolsey, we got a problem."

In minutes, Woolsey had entered the control room, looking alert.

"What's happened?" he asked Sheppard, standing in front of Chuck's console and placing both his hands on it.

"A ship's here. It's taken up orbit around the planet," Sheppard informed him.

"Is it the Wraith?" questioned Woolsey.

"Nope," Chuck answered.

A beeping sound came from Chuck's console.

"Receiving audio transmission," Chuck reported.

"What? How did they know we were here?" Woolsey said in surprise, looking at Sheppard who shrugged and Teyla who shook her head unknowingly.

"Let's find out what they want," Sheppard suggested.

Woolsey nodded at Chuck who pressed a button on his console.

A loud voice, feminine and familiar, rang out. "This is Larrin of the Travellers, It'd be nice if you could decloak your city - we can't see it."

Everyone in the control room was surprised. After a moment, Sheppard nodded to Chuck who opened up a channel.

"What are you doing here, Larrin?" he asked, with a grimace.

"I want to talk."

"That wouldn't happen to involve tying me to a chair now, would it?" Sheppard said, sardonically.

"Funny, I _was_ thinking chains," Larrin snapped, before her voice became serious again. "I've got a proposal for you and your team."

\/

Later, Sheppard and his team were seated in the conference room with Woolsey and Larrin.

"Our network of spy satellites have been providing us with updates on the infighting amongst the Wraith factions," Larrin reported. "About a week ago, we picked up Intel that eight major factions had called a temporary truce."

"Why?" Ronan asked her.

"To hold talks," Larrin replied briefly.

"They want to pause their little war, just to have a chat?" McKay said cynically.

"What do they want to talk about?" Woolsey asked Larrin.

"About a new threat to them that's rising in this galaxy," Larrin said.

"What kind of threat?" Teyla asked.

"We don't know," Larrin stated. "But if it's big enough to push the major players of the Wraith civil war to call a ceasefire, I'd say it's a pretty dangerous threat to them."

The team exchanged intrigued glances.

"They're going to hold discussions on a neutral planet – here," Larrin raised a remote control and pressed a button. A screen on the wall turned on to display a map of a star system and zoomed in on a planet.

"PX3-205," Woolsey read off the screen.

"The planet's going to be guarded by a fleet of Wraith vessels comprised of ships from each attending faction," Larrin said. "There will also be a heavy force of soldiers regulating Stargate travel, as well even more soldiers to guard the facility where the meeting is taking place."

"What exactly do you want to do?" Sheppard asked.

"We want to listen in on the summit," Larrin revealed.

"Well how the hell are you going to do that?" McKay asked incredulously. "With a load Wraith ships in orbit and the Stargate surrounded by Wraith guards, there's no way you're gonna get on that planet. _And_ we haven't even talked about getting into the summit yet, which you oh so observantly stated, will be guarded by about a hundred more Wraith."

"We can get onto the planet and into the facility easily enough," Larrin said calmly.

"Oh, really?" challenged McKay, sceptical.

"My battleship has cloaking abilities," Larrin informed him. "We can sneak past the Wraith ships without getting detected –"

"Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa," McKay said, holding up his hands to slow her down. "Since when could your ship cloak? You need a ZPM for that…" his eyes widened as Larrin looked back at him coolly, her eyebrows raised, "…unless you already have a ZPM? How did you get one?"

"We found it in one of the labs aboard our ship, a while ago," Larrin said. "At first, we didn't know what it was, but we eventually discovered it was a power source from documentation found in the same lab. Our scientists managed to activate it and get it to provide power to the ship's cloaking system. But they can't get it to power the shields, for some reason."

"Hmmm…" McKay said vaguely, thinking.

"What is it exactly you want us to do?" asked Woolsey.

"We need to smuggle someone into the summit. And the only people who can get into the facility are Wraith. Or at least, people with Wraith DNA." Larrin looked directly at Teyla, as did everyone else in the room.

"You want Teyla to infiltrate this Wraith summit," Woolsey said, after a shocked silence.

"She has Wraith DNA, doesn't she?" Larrin asked.

"That's not the point," Woolsey retorted firmly. "The risk of it would be dangerously high. I mean, there are so many things that could go wrong with this mission –"

"The information we could get from this summit is extremely valuable," Larrin pressed. "For decades, we have been hiding from the Wraith. Now, we can turn the tide of this war against them. We can fight back."

"We're still talking about infiltrating probably the most heavily guarded planet in the galaxy. The chances of success, despite whatever preparations you have made, are still undeniably slim to nothing," Woolsey argued.

"You've dealt with situations faced with much steeper odds than this, before. And on many occasions," Larrin countered.

"Lady's got a point," Sheppard acknowledged fairly, earning himself an irritable glance from Woolsey.

"Look, even if I were to consent, I would only do so if I could be personally assured of my team's safety," Woolsey said robustly. "And that means having one of our ships in on this operation to provide support if necessary. But currently, we have no ships on base."

"The Daedalus is a few days out," McKay remembered aloud.

"When are they holding the summit?" Ronan asked Larrin.

"Tomorrow," she replied. "And the talks will last several days. Your team can leave now with my ship to prepare for the operation and when your ship arrives, you can send it ahead and have it standby to act, should it prove necessary."

Woolsey removed his glasses and polished them with a handkerchief he removed from his pocket. "Teyla," he said, "you're the one who's going to be doing this. What do you think?"

Everyone's heads swivelled in Teyla's direction. Sheppard's expression was neutral, Larrin'; expectant and Woolsey's; patient.

"If it will help lead to the ultimate downfall of the Wraith," Teyla said, "then I will do it."

Woolsey bowed his head in resignation. "Are you quite sure?"

Teyla glanced at John's emotionless expression.

"Yes," she affirmed.

Woolsey heaved a deep sigh. "Very well, then," he said. " You have a go."

\/

A few minutes later, the team was in the locker room, gearing up for the mission. While Rodney was busy inserting a pistol into his holster and Ronan was testing his blaster by spinning and aiming it at a mirror in various, dramatic fashions, Sheppard quietly pulled Teyla aside.

"Hey," he said and Teyla waited expectantly for him to speak.

Sheppard remained silent for a while, biting his lip and marshalling his thoughts.

"Look," he began. "I just want to be sure that you're okay with this mission."

"Why wouldn't I be?" asked Teyla.

"Well, it's just…" Sheppard trailed off, "…look, you've got a kid to think about as well now, when you do these kinds of things with us. I hope you've made your decisions with Torren's interests in mind, too."

"When I leave him today," Teyla said, "I know there is a very real chance I won't come back to him, or Kanaan. But on the other hand, by doing this, I am helping to shape a better galaxy for him to grow up in, to live in. One that is free of constant fear of the Wraith. And I think that such a future is worth risking _everything_ for. If indeed I do not return, I only hope that when he is old enough to understand, he will know why I made this decision. That I died trying to give him a better future than what I or my ancestors had. And I hope he will forgive me for leaving him to grow up without a mother."

Sheppard nodded. "Okay," he said.

Teyla smiled at him and walked away, while Sheppard watched her go, felling uneasy and, wondering whether if Torren Emmagan was going to grow up without a mother.


	2. Chapter 2

As the team approached a transporter, fully equipped, Sheppard spoke.

"So you sure this is gonna work, McKay?"

"Yes," Rodney answered impatiently. "We've hooked up the city's transporter system to the one aboard Larrin's ship's, so we should be able to transport directly aboard her ship from down here."

"I mean, I'd hate it if it didn't work and we get beamed out into space instead," Sheppard said in a half-serious, half-casual tone.

"Yeah, well, I'd hate that too," McKay reassured him sarcastically, as they all entered the transporter and the doors closed behind them.

"Change settings for external transportation…" McKay murmured to himself, tapping icons on the display screen set into the back wall of the transporter, "…input destination coordinates…and that should be it." He looked up at Sheppard who was gazing back, a little nervously. "Huh, here we go, then." And he tapped the screen one final time.

As the transporter began to hum and vibrate slightly, McKay began working on a portable computer tablet he had brought with him.

Classical jazz music began issuing softly from two speakers in the top, back corners of the transporter, making the whole team look up.

"Elevator music?" Sheppard commented, his face wrinkled in distaste.

"Yeah. Woolsey had them installed in the transporters," McKay said, wearing a similar expression of disgust. "He thought it'd be nice."

The same kind of silence in the transporter as the one associated with crowded elevators was broken only by the music and the occasional beeps coming from McKay's tablet as he continued working on it. While Ronan and Teyla were squashed at the back, staring in different directions, Sheppard and McKay stood in front, closest to the doors.

Sheppard looked up at the ceiling, down at the floor, then up at the ceiling again, drumming his fingers on his P-90. He took a deep breath, held it and then let it out noisily.

McKay glanced sideways from his tablet at Sheppard in annoyance at his loud exhaling and then returned to his work with a dismissive shake of his head.

Sheppard looked up at the ceiling again, then moved his head slowly sideways and looked down so that he was peeping at Rodney's tablet over his shoulder.

Feeling the close presence, McKay looked up and sideways to see Sheppard's face inches from his own, peering at his work.

Immediately, Sheppard drew away and pretended to be busy examining the ceiling of the transporter closely.

Shaking his head in sheer irritation, McKay went back to tapping the screen of his tablet.

After a moment, Sheppard moved shiftily and slowly sideways once more, staring over McKay's shoulder at the tablet. Very quietly, he drew a deep breath, held it for a moment and then blew it out loudly in McKay's ear.

"Argh!" McKay cried out, shattering the quiet and making Sheppard withdraw again, feigning innocence. Teyla and Ronan grinned at each other.

"What the hell, Sheppard?!" McKay said angrily.

The transporter doors opened and McKay stepped gratefully out into the bridge room of Larrin's Aurora-class warship.

Larrin was sitting in the captain's chair in the middle of the bridge. She rose as the team stepped out of the transporter.

"Welcome to my ship," she said. "Let's get started."

The warship's engines roared into life and a hyperspace window opened. Larrin's ship leapt into the window, leaving Atlantis behind.

\/

The engine room doors opened and Sheppard walked in with Larrin. McKay was sitting next to the main console in the centre of the room. His tablet was plugged into the console and he sighed in frustration at the data streaming across his tablet.

"How's it coming along?" Sheppard asked him.

"Badly," McKay huffed, before addressing Larrin. "Your cloak isn't working properly."

"What?" Larrin sounded alarmed.

"A few of the cables that link your ZPM to the cloaking system are damaged," McKay told her, "so half the time you engage the cloak it will fail, or possibly not cloak at all."

As Larrin opened her mouth to speak, McKay raised a hand to stop her.

"Don't worry. I've had your engineers patch up the faulty wiring so it should be fine."

"Should?" Larrin repeated apprehensively.

"Well yeah," McKay replied nervously. "It's a patch; a quick fix. I don't think we have time to find a permanent solution, like reroute the power because since this ship is damaged, a good number of systems are offline, so it would be difficult to do properly."

Larrin glanced at Sheppard incredulously. He shrugged back at her and left the room. She followed.

"Are you sure he knows what he's doing?" Larrin asked Sheppard as they walked down the corridor together.

"I've learnt to trust McKay with these kinds of things. He delivers...most of the time."

"That's comforting," Larrin said dryly, as they turned a corner.

Meanwhile, Teyla was sitting on the side of her bed, in her temporary quarters aboard the ship. A dressing table stood beside the bed and on it lay a Wraith warrior mask, a wig of the matted, shoulder-length, white hair of a Wraith as well as tubs of slimy green and blue gel makeup.

The doors to her quarters opened and Teyla looked around to see Ronan walk in. He sat on the bed beside her.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked gruffly.

"I am a little nervous, to tell the truth," Teyla answered, with a faint smile.

Ronan smiled back at her. "Good, because you should be."

Teyla reached for a jar of makeup and began spreading the gel over her right arm, so that it turned sea green and glistened, resembling the skin of a Wraith.

"I want you to watch yourself, out there," Ronan said. "And I want you to know that we won't be far from you. We'll have your back."

"Thank you, Ronan," Teyla said. "Your friendship over the last few years has been invaluable to me – Thank you."

"Feeling's mutual," Ronan replied, grinning at her.

Simultaneously, they leant forwards and hugged each other.

After they released each other, Ronan got up and left the room and Teyla looked into the mirror on her dressing table; her reflection smiled back at her.

In space, a hyperspace window opened and an Aurora-class warship leapt out of it.

Larrin entered the bridge and addressed a technician.

"Are we out of sensor range?"

"We are."

"Good. Cloak the ship. Inform Sheppard and his team to get ready – we're nearly there."

Soon, their ship, invisible, had reached the planet. Several Hive ships and half a dozen cruisers hung menacingly over the planet, in orbit.

Larrin's warship, undetected, flew into the midst of the Wraith vessels. Onboard, Larrin activated communications on a console and spoke into it.

"Sheppard, the bay doors are open, you're on."

The team was sitting in a Puddle Jumper with Sheppard and McKay taking the two front seats while Ronan and Teyla sat behind them. Teyla now donned the Wraith mask, the wig as well as Wraith armour, procured according to Larrin from a Wraith warrior the Travellers had managed to kill. In addition, she was armed with a Wraith stunner rifle. With her blue, gel-soaked skin, she was indistinguishable from another warrior.

"Copy that, Larrin," Sheppard responded and he began to pilot the Jumper. It sped out of the docking bay of Larrin's ship towards the planet, cloaking as it went.

"What if my voice betrays my true nature to the Wraith?" Teyla wondered aloud.

"Don't talk to anyone, then," McKay suggested. "Probably won't matter anyway because those Wraith grunts never say anything…"

"Okay, then," Sheppard said, bringing up the heads-up display (HUD). It displayed a three-dimensional map of the planet. A single, red dot was flashing, marked on the planet map, near the centre. "That's the meeting facility," Sheppard said, staring at the dot.

The Jumper landed on the grassy surface of the planet, still cloaked.

Sheppard pressed a button on the control panel and the HUD changed to show a detailed layout of the facility. "Okay, we're about five hundred metres out from this place," Sheppard said. "Larrin told us that the main entrances will be heavily guarded, but this side door –", he indicated an area on the right side of the building that was flashing blue, "–will only have two Wraith." He turned to Teyla. "You should be able to disable the guards and activate the door controls with your Wraith DNA easily enough. So…good luck."

Teyla nodded thankfully at Sheppard, rose to her feet and moved to the back of the Jumper. McKay pushes a button on the front console, opening the rear hatch and she left the Jumper, with the eyes of her team following her.

Outside the Wraith facility, a pair of masked and armoured Wraith guards stood sentinel, gazing warily around for anything out of the ordinary.

Without warning, a blue, stunner blast flew out of nowhere, hitting one of the guards squarely in the chest and he collapsed to the ground immediately.

His startled companion raised his stunner rifle and aimed it in the direction where the blast had come from, but too, was struck down by a second blast and fell to lie on the ground next to his fellow.

A third Wraith guard approached them, lowering its rifle and breathing heavily. The newcomer placed their on a red, pulsing, panel on the wall next to the door, opening it and walked into the building.

The Wraith guard made its way down a misty, dark corridor. The walls glistened with slime and it was unnervingly quiet.

After glancing up and down the deserted hallway, the Wraith pushed a button on a watch-like device on its left wrist and spoke to it in a soft, woman's voice.

"I am inside. Where do I go, now?"

"At the end of the corridor, turn right and head down two flights of steps," Larrin advised her, standing on the bridge of her ship and talking into a speaker on a console. "Then go through the door at the other end of the room…"

Teyla began moving forwards cautiously again.

Some time later, Teyla walked quietly along another corridor, but a Wraith guard turned a corner into the same corridor she was in and spotted her.

Without hesitation, Teyla raised her rifle and stunned the guard. The guard collapsed to the floor, his unconscious body unseeable beneath the thick, swirling mist that swum around the ground. Teyla heard approaching footsteps behind her and turned to see an unmasked male Wraith walking towards her, his pointed teeth bared in a snarl and his smooth, silver white hair tied back in a ponytail. His long, black cloak billowed behind him as walked and he stopped in front of her.

"You're late!" the Wraith snarled, oblivious to his colleague's motionless body, hidden by the mist mere metres from where he stood. "The meeting has already started. What are you doing still dawdling in the corridors?"

Teyla realised with a thrill of dread that she would have to answer him or else he would grow suspicious. But speaking would undoubtedly be even more perilous for her.

But the Wraith seemed to require no answer from her. He surveyed her disparagingly for a moment and then said shortly, "Follow me," before turning and walking back down the corridor.

Teyla let out a breath of relief and followed him, registering the fact that she had been mistaken for the Wraith she had just stunned seconds before.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thank you to those who have reviewed. Your comments and opinions are greatly appreciated and keep me going.

The Wraith led Teyla into the heart of the facility. She lost count of the corridors they passed through and the number of doors they walked through. Finally, they reached another set of doors, much larger than the previous ones and flanked by two Wraith guards on either side.

The Wraith nodded at one of guards who turned and placed his hand on a wall panel behind him. The two halves of the door slid open smoothly sideways, retracting into the wall to allow passage into the room beyond.

Teyla followed the Wraith in and barely suppressed a gasp. They had entered what appeared to be a small amphitheatre and were now standing on the topmost tier, looking down at the scene below.

On the lowest, sunken tier in the centre of the room was a moon crescent-shaped table made of the same red, wet, plant-like material that coated the facility walls. Teyla was reminded of the old table in the Atlantis conference room because the Wraith at the table were sitting along one curved edge on one side of the table only.

Teyla and her companion descended the stone steps towards the table in the middle of the room. A quick glance around showed Teyla that ten Wraith grunts were spaced equally around the room on the topmost tier in a circle, staring down at the summit below. Likewise, five more grunts formed another circle, though a smaller one, on the tier just above the table, surrounding it. But this five-man circle was incomplete. There was an empty spot in the circle of Wraith, breaking the perfect symmetry of it. And it was here that Teyla was directed towards by her companion.

"Take your place," he growled and Teyla stepped into the ring of guards that enclosed the table, filling up the empty place and completing the circle of six.

He then bowed himself out respectfully to the table of Wraith whom had all turned their hands at Teyla's entrance.

Once Teyla's guide had left the room, they resumed their talks.

"As I was saying," coldly said a Queen with waist-length, flowing black hair. "The present climate is fragile. There is much distrust amongst our kind, even within our factions. Food is in short supply and we face increasing resistance from the rebelling human populations of the galaxy. Especially the Atlantis dwellers."

Surreptitiously, Teyla moved her left arm to her right hand and quietly tapped a button on her wrist device.

Back aboard the Jumper, Rodney was pacing up and down anxiously. Ronan was twirling his blaster calmly and John was sitting in the pilot's seat, staring out the windscreen, his face tense with worry.

"Why haven't we heard from her yet?" Rodney said, a little wildly. "I mean, it's almost half an hour. You think she's in some sort of trouble? Maybe she's in too much trouble that she can't reach her communication device! Or…or someone took it from her and she needs help but can't contact us!"

"Rodney!" Sheppard said sternly, without turning around. "Relax. If Teyla is in any trouble, she would tell us. It's just probably too dangerous for her to contact us right now."

"But what if she _can't_?" Rodney cried, coming to a halt and staring at the back of John's head. "What if she–"

"McKay!" Ronan yelled, losing his patience at last with Rodney's pessimism.

Rodney fell silent at once, looking nervous and a little ashamed. "Right, sorry," he said, quietly.

"Look," Sheppard sighed. "We're all a little on edge at the moment, so let's all just try to take our minds off–"

He was interrupted by the sound of static coming from a speaker on the Jumper's main console.

At once, all three of them crowded around the speaker, listening intently, but the speaker merely crackled.

The trio gazed at the speaker on tenterhooks and then finally, the crackling faded into the voice of a female Wraith, "…cannot afford to spare any ships for this cause."

"Ha! That's audio feedback from Teyla's wrist communicator!" McKay exclaimed. "She's alive!"

He glanced delightedly at Sheppard who was smiling with relief. Ronan was grinning too.

Still beaming, Sheppard activated his headset radio.

"Larrin, this is Sheppard. Teyla has successfully infiltrated and bugged the summit. I'm patching a live audio feed to you now."

"Acknowledged," Larrin said shortly, before nodding to a technician working at a console on the bridge. The technician pushed a few buttons and suddenly they could hear the voice of the Wraith Queen aboard their ship too.

Everyone on the bridge of Larrin's ship stopped what they were doing to listen to the Queen's icy voice.

"…ask for unity and cooperation at a more inappropriate time. The Replicators have only recently been defeated and we are falling back into alliances. You cannot ask us to band together once again as one race when such divisions have just reoccurred."

"The threat we are faced with is worthy of such a pivotal demand," retorted a male Wraith's voice in a growl.

Back aboard the Jumper, McKay was looking shocked while Ronan's eyebrows were raised. Sheppard was staring at the speaker as if though he could see the one to which the familiar voice belonged to through it.

"Is it me," Sheppard began, "or does that really sound a lot like –"

"Todd!" Teyla murmured quietly to herself in surprise. Although initially when she had entered the room, she did not pay close attention to the Wraith at the table, now her attention had been captured by the recognisable voice.

Todd sat at the table, looking grim, his shoulder-length white hair as matted as ever. At present, he was gazing at the black-haired Queen, completely unaware of Teyla's presence.

"What even is this threat you speak of?" hissed the Queen. "You refer to it with such fear and trepidation, yet you have not told us what it actually is."

"You wish to know what it is that threatens every Wraith alliance in this galaxy?" Todd sneered. "Every planet, every Hive, every single Queen? There was a Wraith who was once captured by the Atlanteans and experimented upon, converted into a human. They named him Michael."

"I have heard of him," a very youthful-looking Queen with braided, silvery-blond hair spoke up. "He was rejected by his Hive due to what he had been turned into and became a renegade Wraith, independent of any alliance. He is an outsider to us all."

"Michael is of no threat to us," the dark-haired Wraith said dismissively. "I know for a fact that he controls only one cruiser and a handful of these _hybrids_," speaking the last word with utter disdain. "Hybrids created from a combination of Wraith and human DNA!" There was an outbreak of harsh, mocking laughter around the table at the absurd notion. "A hybrid created with human genes! What can humans possibly have that we do not, that should warrant their inclusion in this genetic perfection of a superior being? No, Michael is pathetic and harmless. Let him tinker with his experiments at creating a new breed out of humans." There was more mirth and general noises of agreement among the Wraith leaders at this.

"You fools!" Todd shouted angrily and the derisive laughter died away at once. "Michael has a new purpose, now! He intends to seek out and release Verzu."

In the Jumper, Sheppard and McKay exchanged confused glances.

"Who?" Sheppard asked the speaker uncomprehendingly.

There was an uproar at Todd's revelation. The Queens hissed angrily.

"You lie!" one of them spat.

"I assure you, I do not, otherwise I would not even be here," Todd shot back. "I have been monitoring Michael's recent activities. My latest Intel suggests that he has already discovered the planet where Verzu has been imprisoned upon and he will go there to break her out."

"Michael cannot be allowed to do that!" the silver-haired Queen snarled. "Verzu's unleashing will be catastrophic for every Wraith alike, regardless of alliance or faction."

"Then we are in agreement that he must be stopped?" Todd asked.

"We must hunt him and his forces down," the black-haired Queen declared, "as quickly as possible."

"But it may already be too late," said the silver-haired Queen in a cool voice, content to subject her rival's suggestion to humiliation. "Did you not say he already knew the planet where Verzu is located?" she addressed Todd.

Todd bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement. "Indeed. In fact, he may already be on his way there right now."

"Ships must be dispatched to the planet immediately," another Queen snapped.

"They will not make it in time," Todd said impassively.

"Then warriors must be sent to the planet by Stargate," the rebuked Queen said.

"You are aware of the security arrangements of that planet," Todd said. "Our ancestors deliberately isolated that Stargate from the rest of the network as a security precaution to prevent anyone else from accessing the planet. That planet cannot be dialled by any Stargate in this galaxy except for one."

"The one on Ker Sarda," the black-haired Queen said. "Site of our ancestors' most glorious victory in battle during their war against the Ancients. The day that united all Wraith as one legion against the Ancients. The Stargate on that planet is the only pathway to the planet of Verzu's incarceration, left unsealed in case there ever was need to visit the planet again."

"But the ancestors of the Sodor alliance were delegated to guard the planet heavily and this responsibility was passed on from generation to generation. Do you then not have ships and Wraith there at this time that can stop Michael?" the silver-haired Queen addressed another Queen, this one with long, filthy, tangled hair that fell over her face, covering one half of it. She looked like an insane banshee, with her pointed teeth and manically grinning expression.

"Ker Sada fell under attack by the Replicators during our war against them," the Queen of the Sodor alliance revealed, with a mad giggle. "Everything on its surface was obliterated by their ships. I have not sent replacements, Wraith or ships, since, as my resources are greatly strained and I thought it a planet not worth defending."

"Then there is nothing preventing Michael from using the Stargate on Ker Sarda to access Verzu's prison," the black-haired Queen said with quiet finality.

"No, there is nothing that can stop him from freeing Verzu now," Todd agreed. "But we can stop Verzu before she can regain her power. If we forsake our differences and mistrust of each other to fight together, even Verzu will not be able to withstand our combined might. We will crush her the moment she walks free…"

Aboard the Aurora-class warship, Larrin was listening to Todd's speech intently. A technician glanced down at his console as it started to beep incessantly.

"Uh…Larrin?" he called in a worried voice.

Larrin turned and moved over to the technician's console. "What is it?" she asked.

"I'm detecting unstable power fluctuations in the southern area of the ship's wiring network."

"What's causing it?"

"The power from the ZPM's overloading the systems. Maximum power levels weren't calibrated to match the ZPM's massive energy output."

"Can you divert some of the power?"

"System's not responding."

"We just lost the cloak!" another technician shouted.

"Get it back up now!" Larrin ordered.

"I can't! The circuits have blown!"

Larrin turned and stared out the bridge windscreen in horror. "Oh, crap."

Outside in space, the Aurora-class warship shimmered as the cloak failed and then it became clearly visible, surrounded by numerous Wraith vessels.

"All Wraith ships within range are powering weapons!" a technician warned Larrin.

"Raise the shields," Larrin commanded.

A moment later, the entire ship shook violently. Several crewmembers were thrown to the floor. Larrin staggered, but managed to stay on her feet.

"Shields are taking heavy fire," a technician reported to Larrin.

"Let's hope they hold," she replied, nearly falling over as the ship jolted violently again and the bridge was illuminated by the flash of weapons fire.

Back down on the planet, the same Wraith who had found and escorted Teyla to the meeting re-entered the room, the doors sliding closed again behind him.

"Forgive my intrusion, my Queens, but a foreign vessel has been detected in orbit," he said, bowing.

"_What?_ " the silver-haired Queen stood up, anger clearly etched in her face. "What vessel?"

"It is an Ancient warship," the Wraith replied.

"Humans!" snarled the silver-haired Queen. She immediately turned on Todd. "What is the meaning of this?" she demanded.

"You think I am responsible for this?" Todd rumbled back, looking equally angry and standing, too.

"We all know of your contact with the humans," the silver-haired Queen said jeeringly, gesturing to her fellow Queens. "You brought them here!"

"How dare you accuse me!" Todd shouted.

Tossing her head and hissing, the silver-haired Queen started towards Todd, raising her hand high as she went.

Todd drew a hidden stunner pistol from his vest, fired it at her several times and she collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

All the other Queens gave roars of outrage and jumped to their feet. The Wraith guards that encircled the table raised their stunner rifles, as did the guards who stood on the topmost tier.

And all hell broke loose.

As the guards fired their rifles at the rampaging Queens, the Queens themselves produced weapons; daggers and stunner pistols that had been hidden on their bodies and began to fight the Wraith grunts and each other. The room was full of stunner blasts flying in every direction and Queens wrestling with each other.

At the sound of the first stunner blast, Sheppard had straightened up in the pilot's seat and McKay had stood up, looking alarmed.

"Teyla? Teyla, come in. Teyla can you hear me?" Sheppard said into his radio. "What's going on down there?"

There was no reply from her.

"Dammit!" Sheppard leapt to his feet and dashed to the back of the Jumper, slamming the button that lowered the rear hatch with his fist. He turned around to see Ronan right behind him, but McKay was still standing by the Jumper's main console, looking bewildered.

"C'mon! We're going to get Teyla!" Sheppard said to him and ran out of the Jumper, Ronan at his heels. Sighing to himself, McKay went after them.

As a Wraith grunt charged at her, Teyla rammed the end of her rifle into his stomach, winding him, then struck him across the face with the rifle once, twice…on the third time, he fell painfully to the floor, arms splayed.

Teyla spun around and another grunt fired their stunner at her. The blast soared over her right shoulder, narrowly missing her head and she fired her stunner back at him, hitting him squarely in the chest. He fell to the ground, his body rolling down onto the step below.

Meanwhile, Sheppard, McKay and Ronan were running as fast as they could across a field of grass, towards the Wraith facility in the distance. McKay was lagging behind a little and panting heavily.

"Sheppard!" Larrin's voice yelled over his headset radio, making Sheppard flinch in pain.

"What is it, Larrin?" Sheppard asked, activating his radio.

"McKay failed to deliver!"

Sheppard glanced around in exasperation at McKay who was listening to the conversation.

"What?" McKay said defensively, raising his arms and shrugging. "Not my fault!"

"Our cloak has failed and we're taking hits from just about every Wraith ship up here!"

"Copy that. Sit tight, Larrin. We're gonna go in and grab Teyla, then get the hell outta here."

"No," came Larrin's voice.

"No?" Sheppard repeated, frowning.

"No," she reiterated.

"Well, what do you mean, 'no'?" Sheppard said angrily, still jogging along.

"You don't have time. Our shields are nearly about to fail. Power up your Jumper and get back here, now."

"Not without Teyla!" Sheppard said firmly.

Sighing in frustration, Larrin looked at one of her technicians, flinching as sparks rained down on her. "How much more can we take?"

"Just a little longer," the technician replied, glancing down at the readings on the screen of his console.

"You have five minutes, Sheppard."

It was Sheppard's turn to sigh and he looked back at Rodney. "We need to move faster."

\/

Teyla had managed to fight her way to the end of the room, where the doors were. Firing her rifle at her attackers with one hand, she activated the wall panel with her free hand and the doors opened.

She backed out of the room, continuing to fire until the doors had closed again. Turning around, she saw John, Rodney and Ronan running down the corridor towards her. They instantly raised their P-90s at the sight of her.

"John, it's me," she said in a placating tone, lowering her rifle to show she had no intention of harming them.

"Teyla!" Sheppard said, surprised, lowering his weapon, as did Rodney and Ronan. "I didn't recognise you."

"We need to get out of here, now," Teyla told them all.

Sheppard nodded. "Let's go." As he turned away, Larrin's voice came over the radio again.

"That's time, Sheppard. Where the hell are you?"

"We just got Teyla. We're heading back to the Jumper now."

"I told you not to go for her!"

"And I told you, 'no'!"

"I'm sorry, Sheppard. I waited for as long as could."

"Larrin?"

"Our shields are about to fail. I have my own crew to think about."

Sheppard suddenly realised what she was about to do. "No! Don't do this to us, Larrin!"

"I gave you a choice. You didn't listen to me."

"We're supposed to be allies! Allies don't do this to each other."

"Then I guess we're not allies anymore. I really am sorry."

"Larrin? _Larrin?_ " But there was no reply from her. "Dammit!"

"What's going on?" Ronan asked him.

"If Larrin just did what I think she did, then we're in serious trouble," Sheppard said.

Above the planet, two Hive ships and three cruisers continued to bombard the Ancient warship with their energy weapons.

Larrin turned to her technician. "Get us out of here."

As the Wraith ships continued to fire at it, Larrin's warship turned away from them, opened a hyperspace window and disappeared into it.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thank you again to those who've read and even more so to those who've reviewed.

Sheppard activated his headset radio. "Larrin? Please respond, Larrin…" He sighed, "look, I'm sorry I was rude, okay? So how about you just fly back, pick us up, then we can all sit down and have a nice, long chat about this…"

Ronan raised his eyebrows in disbelief at Sheppard.

"Larrin, please…oh, screw this," Sheppard snapped, wrenching the radio from his ear and tossing it away in anger. "That's right, you run, Larrin, 'cause the next time I see you, I'm – I'm gonna put a bullet through your left foot!" he yelled at his radio earpiece, lying discarded on the floor, feet from him.

"What are we going to do?" Teyla asked the others, as Sheppard continued to glare at his earpiece in an amusing fashion, as if he could see Larrin through it.

"Kill some Wraith?" Ronan suggested, holding up and tilting his blaster.

"I think she meant escaping, big boy" Rodney said sarcastically.

"Escaping could involve killing some Wraith," Ronan persevered, without heat.

Rodney rolled his eyes and made an exasperated sound. He turned to Sheppard.

"I say we head back to the Jumper and blast out way through the gate."

"They probably would've dialled in by now to stop anyone from getting off this planet," Ronan guessed.

"Probably. _Probably_. There's a slight chance they haven't yet. I'll take that chance," McKay said stubbornly.

"It's a fool's chance," Ronan told him.

"Well, _excuse me_, for putting my faith in our only small, tiny, little chance of living!" McKay said furiously.

At that moment, the doors to the room Teyla had come out of opened again. The team spun around, raising their weapons.

Todd stood stock still before them, arms raised, with four guns aimed at him.

"Sheppard! What a surprise to see you here!" Todd exclaimed in mock delight.

"Likewise," Sheppard replied in a tone that suggested otherwise. "Been keeping busy?"

"Fairly," Todd answered evenly. "I did organise this little event, after all."

"Don't you just hate it when these wild parties get out of control?" Sheppard smiled sardonically, as the sounds of firing stunner rifles and the screeching Wraith Queens reached them from the room behind the doors Todd had walked through.

"Indeed," Todd agreed dryly, inclining his head.

"You got a ride home?" Sheppard asked in a friendly manner.

"I do."

"Mind giving us a lift?"

Todd tilted his head to the side, grinning in amusement. "I cannot help but wonder…it is most irregular that you did not arrange a way home beforehand. Or has something gone wrong?"

"Our ride…bailed out on us," Sheppard admitted embarrassedly.

"Ah…" Todd's eyes widened in understanding and his expression grew more amused.

"So how about that lift, then?"

"Well, I'd rather not–" Todd stopped speaking as Ronan moved forwards and jammed the barrel of his blaster into the side of his head threateningly. "– but since we know each other so well…"

Not long afterwards, a cloaked Jumper shot up into the sky, heading for open space. The team was onboard with Todd sitting silently behind Rodney, who was sitting in the co-pilot's seat, looking a little nervous. Ronan sat behind Todd; hand on his blaster and glowering at the back of the Wraith's head.

"Alright, we're entering thermosphere," Sheppard began, but broke off, looking out the windscreen. "Whoa."

Everyone else looked out too.

A fierce battle was raging before them; the Wraith ships were all attacking each other in a devastating free-for-all ship brawl. Even as they watched, several explosions went off along the hull of a nearby severely damaged Hive ship, two Cruisers firing savagely at it. Countless Darts danced around and around the larger ships in a colossal aerial dogfight, exploding ceaselessly like a fireworks display.

A beeping from the main console drew Sheppard's eyes from the scene of chaos. "Alright, we're nearly there," he announced and turned to Todd. "You're up."

Todd got up and moved over to the console, activating the communications. "This is your commander," he said authoritatively. "I am approaching on a vessel. Open the bay doors at once."

As the still-cloaked Jumper approached a Cruiser shooting its blue energy weapons, its bay doors opened, allowing access.

Moments later, Todd and the team entered the bridge of the Cruiser. Everyone staggered as the ship was rocked by weapons fire.

"Status?" Todd barked at his second-in-command, Kenny, who was standing at the main console.

"We've sustained serious damage, commander," Kenny reported. "We just lost weapons."

"It does not matter. We are leaving now." Todd said.

Their Cruiser sped away from the battle and escaped into a hyperspace window.

Later, as the Cruiser plunged through hyperspace, Sheppard spoke to Todd.

"If you can drop us off at the nearest Wraith-free planet so we can gate home, that would be great."

"I'm afraid that that does not coincide with my plan," Todd said ominously.

Instantly, Ronan drew his blaster and aimed it at Todd.

At once, the Wraith guards on the bridge raised their stunner rifles and surrounded the team.

Rodney grimaced, staring around at all the stunners aimed at his face. "Oh, boy. Here we go again…"

Ronan did not lower his blaster.

"As you undoubtedly know by now, Michael intends to release Verzu. If he is efficient, he would probably be at the planet where she has been imprisoned by now," Todd said.

Sheppard yawned pointedly, stretching his arms over his head. "Wow am I tired. Can't wait to get back to my quarters and have a hot shower…take a nap…"

"Verzu is not only a threat to the Wraith, but to all humans as well," Todd growled menacingly.

"So it's the Replicators all over again, huh?" McKay said.

"More or less," Todd agreed.

"Why should we believe you?" Ronan spat, keeping his blaster raised. "You could be lying."

"And why is Verzu even a threat to _us?_" McKay piped up. "And while we're on that tangent, who even _is_ Verzu?"

"Verzu is a Wraith Queen. One of the most powerful and feared Queens of the entire galaxy," Todd answered, his eyes flitting from Sheppard's impassionate face, to Teyla's sceptical expression, to Rodney's fear-filled appearance and finally to Ronan's eyes, dark with hatred and mistrust. "She is what we call an Ancient Queen, due to the fact that she fought in the war against the Lanteans all those years ago. She was a superb leader, winning many battles for our kind against the Lanteans. But she was also a terrifying leader. She gained a reputation for her cold-blooded ruthlessness, even towards her own soldiers. Even the Lanteans learned to fear her and she became renown across the galaxy to every race. Known and feared."

Todd paused, looking curiously at the silent team.

"We've met a Queen who fought in the Ancient-Wraith war," McKay reminisced. "Found her sleeping right beneath Atlantis. Teyla managed to overpower her."

"Thank you, Rodney," Teyla said with a small smile.

"Well, if we've dealt with one of these Ancient Queens before, what's another one then?" Sheppard said with bravado.

"You vastly underestimate an extremely dangerous Queen. Possibly the most powerful Wraith ever to exist," Todd warned direly.

"How did she come to be imprisoned?" Teyla asked.

"After we had won our war against the Lanteans, many Wraith feared that Verzu would attempt to seize complete control of the galaxy. She commanded the largest alliance of factions by far. Armies of soldiers and countless ships at her disposal…All the other Queens feared she would make herself the leader of all Wraith, the Queen of Queens…And so they all conspired together to bring her down. They ambushed her flagship at a rare, vulnerable moment. She was captured and imprisoned in a special complex on an isolated planet and has remained there ever since, Believe me when I say that freeing her is in neither of our best interests."

"Because if she's freed, she'll take over this galaxy for herself and wipe out anyone that opposes her," McKay said in bored voice. "I can see how that's not in _your_ best interests, but for us, the only difference is that there'll just be someone different feeding on us. Why should we care who gets to feed on us? I'm certainly not risking my life for that."

Todd walked closer to Rodney, his face contorted with rage. Rodney suddenly looked nervous and took an involuntary step back.

"If Verzu learns of Atlantis's continued existence and she will, she will take it upon herself to finish the siege she started so long ago. You and your people survive today only because we Wraith are in disarray and civil war. If the entire Wraith race were united under her, a massive, coordinated assault on Atlantis would become inevitable. Do you wish for that day to dawn, Dr. McKay?"

"…no," McKay said in a small voice.

Todd retreated from Rodney to the main console. "We are travelling towards the planet with the only Stargate that can connect to the one on Verzu's containment planet. I organised the summit for the alliances in the hopes that I could persuade them to band together to stop Verzu in the event she is released. Even if I had been successful, the chances of defying her with the combined weight of our factions would have been slim. Now with our divisions and infighting worse than ever, it will be borderline impossible to stop Verzu from gaining anything her heart desires."

"Then what chance do we have of stopping her?" Sheppard exclaimed.

"That is why I have no intention of stopping her," Todd responded curtly. "I intend on preventing Michael from releasing her to avert this potential crisis. And you're going to help me."

Todd glared at Sheppard, as if waiting for confirmation of his team's participation.

Sheppard turned to his team, "I suppose something we could get out of this is killing Michael, at least. Alright, we'll help," he said to Todd.

"Good. We are almost there. You should prepare yourselves," Todd advised, as he strode to his associate, Kenny and began giving orders. Kenny nodded and left the bridge through a door.

As Sheppard's team talked amongst themselves, Todd subtly turned his back on them, slipped a device out of the pocket of his cloak and pressed a button on it. A red LED on the device began flashing. Smiling to himself in satisfaction, Todd slipped the device back into his pocket.

\/

The Cruiser dropped out of hyperspace and headed down towards a planet that was rock red all over. It landed on a flat, barren plain of red sand that stretched to the distant horizon. The bay doors opened and a Jumper shot out, the team onboard, accompanied by Todd, once again.

Under Todd's direction, Sheppard piloted the Jumper towards a distant mountain. As they drew closer, it was revealed to be a volcano. Todd reassured them that it was inactive. The Jumper dived into the crater and landed in a heavily wooded area, next to another Wraith Cruiser.

"Well, looks like Michael beat us here," McKay observed, gazing at the Cruiser after the rear hatch had lowered and the team had stepped out. The dense foliage blocked out all sunlight so it was eerily dark in the crater, despite it being in the middle of the day.

"No doubt he is already in the process of releasing her as we speak," Todd said. "There isn't much time, we must hurry."

"Alright. Chances are he probably brought some hybrids along too, so everyone be on the lookout and be ready for a fight," Sheppard said, loading a clip into his P-90. "Let's go."

They followed Todd to the far wall of the crater where there was an entrance to a tunnel that descended into the depths and darkness of the volcano. Mist was pouring out of the pitch-black opening.

Todd grinned maliciously at the abject terror on McKay's face. He swept unhesitatingly into the tunnel and was swallowed up by the darkness.

Sheppard grimaced and entered cautiously after Todd, gun raised and ready. Teyla followed confidently, her gun likewise raised.

"Maybe I should wait out here in case, y'know…" Rodney stuttered, turning to Ronan who wordlessly pushed Rodney in after their colleagues before walking in himself, blaster held casually at his side.

Inside the darkness, Sheppard, Teyla and Rodney clicked on the flashlights attached to their P-90s while Todd drew from his pocket and activated a glow stick that shone with a bright, ethereal blue light. Everything was bathed with a ghostly bluebell glow.

Holding the glow stick high above his head to illuminate the tunnel, Todd led the way as the tunnel slanted downwards deeper into the volcano. After a few minutes, Todd came to an abrupt stop, gazing at what lay before him. The rest of the team halted behind him too.

They were standing on the edge of a massive abyss. An ancient, crumbling stone walkway, twenty feet long, led to a large, stone platform in the middle of the abyss. A Stargate and a DHD stood on the stone platform.

"This doesn't look safe," McKay said at once, looking apprehensively at the walkway.

"If Michael and his hybrids got across, then so can we," Todd said and began strolling across the walkway.

The team stepped carefully and slowly after him, McKay cringing as if though he were expecting it to collapse at any moment. But they made it across to the stone platform alive and uninjured.

Todd examined the DHD closely, which had two Wraith devices attached to it.

"What are those?" Sheppard asked him, pointing at them.

"This one–" Todd indicated the device that sat on the top middle of the DHD, "–is a security device and acts as a lock on the DHD. The DHD will be unusable unless you input the correct password into the device. Only a select few Wraith were given the password to visit Verzu's planet periodically to ensure all was well and that the security arrangements were unbroken."

"Do you have the password?" Teyla enquired.

Todd grinned. "As a matter of fact I do. I managed to steal the information from a rival alliance." The device had several buttons on it, all different sizes and different colours. Todd pressed seven buttons and a red light on the device turned green. "There, the DHD is now active."

"Then what does the other one do?" McKay asked, pointing to the other similar-sized Wraith device that was too attached to the DHD and linked to the password protector with several small Wraith fibres like wires.

"A hacking tool," Todd said, glancing at it. "Michael obviously used it to crack the password to gain access to the DHD."

Todd began dialling the gate and the flashing chevrons lit up the gloom. The team moved out of the way as the unstable energy vortex exploded forwards and then receded into a shimmering, blue puddle.

As Sheppard made to walk through the gate, Todd called our sharply, "Wait!"

Sheppard stopped and Todd motioned for him to move away. He complied and from his pocket, Todd produced a sphere-shaped Wraith device the size of a tennis ball. He knelt down and rolled the device along the ground into the event horizon.

"Now, we go," Todd nodded.

Sheppard turned and walked through the event horizon. Todd followed him. Then Teyla and lastly, McKay and Ronan entered the same time as each other.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Edit. Since this chapter spun out longer than I originally planned, I've decided to split it, so this is the second last chapter, not the previous one. Sorry to mislead you.

Sheppard emerged out of the event horizon, P-90 raised to shoulder-height – but there was nothing to shoot.

He was standing in a massive cavern that looked exactly the same as the one he had just come from. The Stargate stood on a large, stone platform with a DHD. A crumbling stone bridge in front of him stretched across the chasm to the mouth of a tunnel in the far cavern wall.

Sheppard looked down and noticed he was not alone. Two of Michael's hybrids lay unconscious on the platform, Todd's round device sitting innocently on the ground next to them.

The rest of the party stepped out of the Stargate and joined Sheppard to gaze down at their unconscious opponents.

"Michael posted people to guard the gate," Sheppard told them.

"He obviously wishes to not be disturbed," Teyla surmised.

"Then let us disturb him…and grandly," Todd chuckled wickedly, stalking off across the bridge and drawing his stunner pistol.

The team stared at his back and McKay turned to Ronan.

"Something tells me Michael's not gonna like our surprise party much."

"Yeah, I get that feeling too," Ronan said gruffly, raising his blaster, spinning it dramatically and switching the setting from stun to kill.

As the team and Todd trudged through a hallway, Sheppard spoke. "This – this Queen you say has a name?" Sheppard asked Todd.

"Her name is Verzu," Todd answered shortly.

Sheppard frowned. "I don't like that name."

"Then what would you like to call her?" Todd asked sarcastically.

Sheppard thought for a moment. "Betty," he said.

As they entered a room scattered with large crates, Todd stopped in his tracks and turned around to stare at Sheppard with a mixture of disbelief and irritation. "You cannot give her one of your human names! To call her that would be a great insult and she would instantly kill you."

"She's probably gonna kill me instantly either way," Sheppard shrugged. "Because I'm gonna shoot her if I see her."

"Wait a minute, how come you get to name the Wraith again?" McKay chimed in heatedly. "I want to name one this time."

"The reason you don't get to name anything is because your names are stupid," Sheppard said cuttingly.

"Give one example!" McKay challenged.

"FRAN."

"FRAN was not stupid!" McKay said, infuriated. "Friendly Replicator Android. It was the perfect anagram! Even Zelenka agreed!"

"Actually, I liked the name FRAN," Teyla piped up, unexpectedly.

Everyone turned to stare at her.

"I'm calling the shots here so you don't get to name her," Sheppard snapped.

"Well I'm not gonna listen to you!" McKay said stubbornly.

"Well unfortunately, I'm _team leader_," Sheppard said, fingering a badge on his uniform. "And you're part of the team which I'm the leader of. Which means you _have_ to listen to me! Whether I order you to attack fifty Hive ships or to not name things! I make the decisions and we're calling her Betty!"

"No one is calling her Betty!" Todd thundered. "Branding her with your human names is disrespectful and demeaning!"

"Maybe because we want to disrespect and demean her," Ronan suggested.

Todd looked daggers at Ronan. But before anyone could say anything else, a blast of blue energy flew past them all, narrowly missing Rodney's head.

"Whoa!" McKay cried, stepping backwards in shock and promptly tripping over.

The rest of them whirled around and fired their weapons at the pair of hybrids that were pointing stunner pistols at them. The hybrids fell at once but before they had even hit the ground, three more entered through a tunnel at the other end of the room, firing their pistols.

The team and Todd took cover behind the crates and returned fire, forcing the trio of Hybrids to duck behind a few crates too. McKay crawled along the ground to Teyla's crate. She grabbed him by the back of his jacket and hauled him to his feet.

"Thank you," McKay gasped, but ducked his head and covered his ears as Teyla fired a burst of bullets at a hybrid, hitting the crate which was hiding him as he stooped behind it.

In a nearby room full of Wraith consoles, a hybrid and Michael were working as the sounds of gunfire reached them. Michael looked up from his console, his eyes narrowed.

A hybrid rushed into the room.

"Report?" Michael barked.

""We've lost contact with the men stationed at the gate," the hybrid answered. Several intruders have breached the facility and engaged our forces. They're humans."

Michael's eyes widened as comprehension dawned on his face. "Atlantis," he spat.

Back in the crate room, a hybrid rose up from behind his crate only to be struck in the left shoulder by a stunner blast from Todd. The hybrid stumbled backwards, then fell.

With an inarticulate war cry roar, Ronan ran out from behind his crate, charging one of the remaining hybrids, firing his blaster repeatedly at the crate that was the only thing that stood between him and his prey.

Glancing around the side, the hybrid saw Ronan running at him and panicked. Abandoning his crate, he fled down the corridor, only to be struck in the back by Ronan's blaster, which left a smoking hole.

The last hybrid straightened up, pointing his blaster directly at Ronan who stood, exposed, in the middle of the room.

Before he could pull the trigger, a burst of P-90 fire hit him in the chest and he collapsed backwards too, falling to the floor.

Sheppard lowered his P-90 and moved from behind his crate into the open, his gun still aimed cautiously at the sprawled, motionless hybrid. "Clear," he announced.

The rest of the, team and Todd joined Sheppard and Ronan. The party walked together out of the room through the corridor the hybrids had entered from.

As Michael and a hybrid continued working, gunfire flared up right outside the room, followed by an audible grunt. The hybrid looked around in fear, but Michael kept working, unperturbed.

Seconds later, Sheppard and Ronan charged into the room. Instantaneously, Ronan gunned down the hybrid scientist whereas Sheppard aimed his gun steadily at Michael's back, who started pressing buttons at a much quicker speed.

"Step away from the console, Michael," Sheppard ordered, as the rest of the team and Todd caught up and everyone aimed their weapons at Michael.

Michael, who had not reacted in the slightest to the intrusion, continued to ignore them as if though they weren't there, pushing buttons fervently.

Without another word, Sheppard fired several shots from his P-90 at Michael's back, causing him to twitch as if though he had had a brief spasm before he crumpled to the floor, unmistakably dead.

As the team gazed down at Michael's corpse, Todd moved to the console Michael was working on and glanced at the display screen. His face filled with dread. "We are too late," he said quietly. "Michael has activated the emergency prisoner release protocols. The initiation sequence is happening as we speak."

A loud hissing noise from the right side of the room made the team spin around, guns at the ready. They had been too intent on Michael to notice that on the wall of the room furthest from them, what seemed like a large capsule had been embedded, more than big enough to fit a fully-grown human being.

The capsule appeared to be full of an emerald green liquid and the glass of it was completely steamed up so that they could not see what was within except a dark, human-shaped blur.

"What is _that_?" McKay asked, pointing at the capsule embedded in the wall.

"_That_ is Betty, I'm guessing," Sheppard said, raising his P-90 once more and aiming it at the capsule. Teyla and Ronan did likewise.

As they watched, a metal seal that framed the capsule withdrew with a loud, metallic clanking noise.

"Can you not abort the initiation sequence?" Teyla called to Todd.

"No," Todd replied, who was standing beside Ronan and watching the capsule with apprehensive fear. "Nothing can be done now."

"Not good, not good, not good," McKay squeaked in terror, as there was a loud hissing noise and the capsule opened like a flip lid. The green liquid inside gushed out, washing over the floor and under the team's feet.

"Oh! Ugh! That is gross," McKay grimaced in disgust, lifting his left leg to see the sole of his shoe completely encased in green slime. White smoke from within the capsule poured out, flooding the room with a swirling, eerie mist.

A slimy, limp, Wraith-like body was suspended in the capsule by Wraith tendrils attached to the back of its neck and along its entire spine. Its face was hidden by the glistening hair that plastered it, soaked with the green liquid that had leaked out of the capsule. As the team and Todd watched, the tendrils that supported the Wraith as the strings of a puppet might began to snap off one by one in quick succession.

When the last tendril had disconnected from the bottom of the Wraith's spine, the motionless figure dropped to the floor of the capsule, stirred and slowly pushed itself to its feet.

Sheppard tightened his grip on his gun and raising it higher, he began to step cautiously towards the figure, the others keeping line with him, their weapons trained on the Wraith too, fingers tensed over triggers.

"Fire only when I give the word," he said quietly to them.

The Wraith stepped carefully out of the rising mist that surrounded the capsule and into clear sight of the team.


End file.
